PT Usha was 'on the track to' depression due to heart condition after Olympics: What helped her?

Former track and field athlete P T Usha, who has won many medals for India, was called 'Payyoli Express' due to her exceptional speed on the track. But did you know that once, she faced the sudden end of her career as her heart was beating too fast? At a time when Kerala is remembering Dr M S Valiathan, the eminent cardiac surgeon who passed away on Wednesday, Usha shared with us how the medical practitioner saved her career back in 1980, with 'just eight words.'

Usha remembers...
It was 1980 and I had just returned from Moscow after competing in the Olympics. The PT Usha that you see now wouldn’t be here, had it not been for a diagnosis report written by Dr. Valiathan. In 1981, besides the usual 100 and 200 metres events, I won a third gold in the 4 x 400 metre relay too, in the National Interstate Athletics that was held in Bengaluru. After collecting my medals, I was walking on the tracks with my coach Nambiar and Indian chief coach JS Saini. Suddenly, I lost consciousness and fell on the track. The state government took me to the AIIMS in New Delhi for treatment. The doctor there diagnosed my condition as ectopic heartbeat, a type of arrhythmia that happens when the heart beats too soon or misses a beat. My career seemed over when he said that I no longer possess the physical fitness to compete on the tracks.

I was on the ‘tracks’ of depression for the next two months. My parents, unable to see my pain, took me to Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology. Valiathan sir came over to see me. I cried in front of him saying that I wanted to run. He found out that I was physically fit even though my heartbeats weren’t regular. But, if he bypassed the certificate issued by AIIMS, everyone would point fingers at him in case something happened to me on the field. Nevertheless, he wrote, ‘Usha can compete in 100 and 200 metres’.

The Athletic Federation recalled me to the national camp after I was given this certificate. Those eight words on the medical report inspired me to bring out my best performances since the Asian Games in 1982. When I met him, four years ago, at Thiruvananthapuram, I reminded him how he had saved my career in sports. I wondered whether he remembered all those. But, I surely remember everything, dear sir! Not just that certificate, you too will forever be in my memories.